Greece

1987 -- The lands of the gods and goddesses. Full of a rich tradition of mythology and other stuff. The ruins were great; the only drawback being that for most of them one had to shell out dollars aplenty. For one exhibit, we were requested to pay US$30 each.

It was interesting, very touristy. I actually don't remember much other than individual things.

We stayed at a marina for a while. At the place we were moored, there were dogs. As we were wont, we'd leave our shoes ashore when coming aboard the yacht. This made us lose several pairs of shoes, as the dogs found them and ate them to bits.

We met a very nice German lady at the markets, who was selling crafts of hers (leather bracelets and the like) on a blanket on the ground. I don't know if she made much money from her ventures, but I was interested in the little bits of expensive nothings she was making.

We also went to Rhodes, which is an island off the coast of Turkey but really a part of Greece. Damien and I (and all the other children) had fun in the rocks, running around and hiding. At one stage, when we were on the docks, Damien and I sat in this abandoned stand and made lighthouses out of scrap bits of timber we tore off it. We tried selling them then—to no avail. But one lady, a tourist, did give us a packet of dried bananas which we happily munched away on.

It snowed while we were here. The only time I have ever seen the stuff; at first we could not believe it was snow. Especially since Greece had had a heatwave that same year that had killed a lot of people. It wasn't enough to do anything with; in fact, it melted as soon as it hit a hard surface. But it was an experience, and all out clothes were worn.